International development - inclusive education programme: call for proposals

G. Timeframes for the Programme

1. There is a period of 10 weeks between the Calls for Proposals being published (Monday 19^th February 2024) and the deadline for receipt of application forms (Monday 29^th April 2024).

2. The Scottish Government will evaluate the Calls for Proposals and will notify the successful organisation(s) by 17^th May 2024.

3. It is intended that the Grant for Strand 1 and Strand 2 will be awarded and commence not sooner than 1 June 2024, subject to completion of due diligence checks, for an initial period of around five years (to 31 March 2029) with the potential to extend further. The grant holder must be prepared to start immediately on the inception phase of the programme, with a view to commencing the implementation phase on 1 September 2024. We expect that budget forecasting and activities in Year 1 for both Strands will not be typical due to starting half-way through the financial year.

4. Weekly progress meetings will be conducted during the inception phase. Regular review meetings will be arranged over each year of the grant to cover progress meetings, MEL meetings and meetings to agree the Annual Report. The requirement for these, and the most appropriate time to schedule will be discussed with the successful grant holder, by the International Development Team. It may be possible that some of these meetings could be online, as appropriate. Below provides an indicative timetable for the Programme’s key milestones in Year 1, which as an inception year is likely to not be typical in terms of sequencing and forecasting.

Indicative Timetable:

• June 2024: Inception Meeting and discussion of initial design of Strands 1 and/or 2 and agree objectives. The Grant holder is required to submit a work plan detailing deliverables and the timeline for meeting these, to be signed off by the SG.
• July 2024: Review Meeting 1 Submission of programme design including analysis of stakeholder feedback, complete theory of change, gender analysis, MEL plan and communications plan. This must be developed through a participatory approach with stakeholders.
• August 2024: Review Meeting 2 Conclusion of inception phase by agreement with SG and partner country governments
• September 2024: Review Meeting 3 Commencement of implementation phase
• December 2024: Review Meeting 4 Discussion of implementation progress
• March 2025: Review Meeting 5 Discussion of implementation progress and agreement of approach to annual report
• June 2025: Review Meeting 6 Discussion and agreement of Year 1 Annual Report, and key learning, recommendations and feedback from stakeholders.